Versatile Blogger Award

Christine, the Uncorked Librarian nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award. The purpose of this award is to acknowledge bloggers who write well, cover unique subjects and demonstrate care in creation of their posts.

Thank you, Christine, for the nomination! I’m flattered that you like my fledgling blog.

A Little More About Christine and The Uncorked Librarian

Of all the people I have met in the bookish corridors of twitter, Christine is one of the nicest and most supportive. We initially connected because our cats look a lot alike.

Christine’s Noah is on the left. My Ms. Kitty is on the right. They kill me with their cuteness.

Christine has a charming writing style and shares her thoughts about the books she reads, the wine she drinks, and the glorious places she travels. In her own Versatile Blogger post, she tells the incredibly sweet story about how she and her husband met. It should be made into a movie. You can visit Christine’s blog here.

The Rules of the Versatile Blogger Award

Thank the person that nominated you for this award.

Link their blog to this post.

Select UP TO 15 blogs/bloggers that you either regularly follow or discovered recently.

Nominate them for this awesome Versatile Blogger Award with links to their sites.

Write 7 things about yourself.

1. I am a single mother of two teenagers.

When my kids were babies, I imagined parenting would be easier as they got older. The would be able to do more for themselves: eat, get dressed and entertain themselves. I thought I’d catch up on all the sleep I had been missing. What a joke! I still toss and turn at night because I’m worried about them. The challenges they face are far more complex and potentially have greater impact on the course of their lives (driving on the interstate! drugs! mental health issues! sex! school! Justin Bieber!) I never thought I’d be doing this on my own, but here I am. There are so many days when I feel like a complete failure, but I keep trudging along. They’re still healthy. They’re still in school. They still have a roof over their heads. We’re doing all right.

I’m blessed that my son is an empathetic soul. He knows when I need a hug or some help around the house. He has really stepped up during these past years when I needed support.

My daughter is the smart and sassy one. She amazes me with her startling observations about the world and the people she knows. She keeps me grounded and makes me laugh.

2. When I announced to my ex-husband that I wanted to buy a DSLR, he asked me why. I said, “I want to take pictures of leaves.”

And so I did.

I have since added some diversity to my photography. I like pictures of places we’ve traveled, self-portraits, flower macros, still life studies, and wildlife images.

3. I love making and sharing music with others. For a time, I tried to encourage my daughter to play the piano.

She did quite well, but has since given it up to pursue her dreams of becoming a rock star. We’re taking guitar lessons.

4. I used to sew and knit all my own clothes. I was really proud of my creations and still wear many of them.

Unfortunately, between working full time, raising two kids and learning to play Blackbird on an acoustic guitar, I’ve had to resort to buying clothes again.

5. I suffer from chronic migraines.

They are not just mere headaches. I don’t want to be defined by a neurological condition, because I’m so much more than that; however, it’s had a big impact on my life.
I’ve learned two hard truths from dealing with this:

(a) Even nice people will assume you’re not doing everything you can to treat a migraine and will offer you unsolicited advice, such as cutting out gluten or lactose, drinking 60 glasses of water a day or taking this pill or injecting that kind of drug. Luckily, I’ve found some things that help me. Please understand that what works for one person may not work for someone else.

(b) Everyone will tire of hearing you say you can’t do something because your head hurts. Friends will assume you’re avoiding them. Employers will suspect you are shirking your job. Family will feel put out that you don’t cook dinner night after night or go to soccer games or cocktail parties. Meanwhile, you’re tired of missing out too.

6. I sometimes dream of quitting my job to be a baker or run a bookstore–or both.

On second thought, if I were a baker I’d have to get up awfully early. I’ll stick with the book store dream.

I’m a litigation paralegal, which means I spend day after day reviewing documents. Sometimes, it’s interesting and exciting. Other days, it’s a slog.

7. I don’t like heights, but I’ve hiked to the top of Tolmie Peak…

contemplated the grandeur of a Mayan pyramid…

and work on the 44th floor of a building.

In February of 2001, the Nisqually earthquake hit Seattle. My office tower swayed back and forth like a boat on a storm-tossed sea. I hid under my desk and dug my fingers into the carpet so I would stay put. I’ll be quite happy to retire and keep closer to the ground. I still may check out a pyramid or two. That was cool.

And now it’s my turn to nominate some of my friends for the versatile blogger award!

Haha! There are a lot of them. I should have been a botanist. I love trees. I’ll parade around in that dress one of these days 🙂 I’ve got to fix the wig though. The giant flowers I put in it got a bit bedraggled after the last move.

Your kitty is soooo cute! And I’m sorry to hear about your chronic illness; people who aren’t aware of what chronic illnesses can do to a person tends to brush it off as exaggeration, or they think it can be fixed magically. My friend who deals with this says she’s misunderstood all the time, so I think I can imagine the frustrations you have too.

My name is Amy Stanton and I am a blogger from Seattle, WA. If you enjoy beautiful photographs, personal essays, book reviews, travel logs, and brag posts about sewing and knitting projects, then we are going to hit it off. ♥